The Beauty of the Doctor
by doctordeanmoriarty
Summary: Between travels with his beloved Ponds, the Doctor meets someone new, someone intriguing... Someone with a face that he knows but doesn't know. The Doctor can't help but take her with him. She is a mystery to be solved, and oh, how the Doctor loves to solve mysteries.
1. The Beach

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters do not and will not ever belong to me.  
Author's Note: First, thank you so much for taking the time to check this story out.  
Second, this is my first DW fic so I hope I do well. And this chapter is kind of fast and lame, but I'm never good at starting stories. Always mess them up. That is why I went ahead and wrote the first two chapters up before posting anything. :) _

I am running. Running down a dirt path, surrounded by the bare trees and their refreshing oxygen. My sneakers crunch against the fallen leaves, filling the air with echoes. It mixes pleasantly with the birds chirping and the shallow streams flowing over the rocks. I startle as my phone's ringtone break the peace, almost tripping over a branch. After a sigh, I press the talk button and put the phone to my ear, slowing my run down to a jog.

"Hello?" I say, trying unsuccessfully to avoid sounding annoyed.

"Emma! Hey, it's Chelsea!" I roll my eyes at my friend's overly cheerful voice.

"Yeah, I know. 21st Century, remember? Caller I.D. ringing any bells?" Sarcasm weaves its way into every syllable. Chelsea doesn't seem to catch it and laughs happily.

"So what are you doing right now?" She asks.

"Before you called, I was running." I mumble, and then slow to a walk.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot. Today is Tuesday, and that is your running day." Chelsea says.

"No biggie." It really isn't. The trail ends in a half of a mile anyway.

"Good. Anyway, I was just talking with Brad and Cameron, who, by the way, told me to say hello." She pauses to add dramatic effect. Chelsea has been my friend for a few years, and she is super fun to hang out with… unless there are boys involved. If there are boys, then she is always trying to hook me up with one, despite my incessant refusals.

"Look, they wanted to know if we wanted to go to the beach with them later today, say… noon-ish?" My first instinct is to say no, but it has been a while since I've done anything particularly social, so I reluctantly agree.  
"But only if you promise to not try to pair me with every guy we see, okay?" I say, phrasing it as a question but meaning it as more of a demand. There is a faint groan from the other end of the line.

"Fine." Chelsea says finally, dragging out the word.

"Thank you." I say, a small smile tugging at the edges of my mouth.

"Look, I'll meet you at your house around eleven and we can get ready, okay? I want to finish my run."

"Okay, sure. See you then!" She says, and I can hear the grin. I hang the phone up and put it back in my pocket, then set off at a steady run again.

Chelsea and I had spent nearly 40 minutes getting ready for the beach. Well… really it had just been Chelsea trying on one thousand different outfits, asking me which one looked best, and then taking seven years to put on her makeup. We finally reach the beach 15 minutes after twelve, which I consider rude, and Chelsea considers fashionably late. I apologize enough for the both of us, but Brad and Cameron just laugh and say its fine.

"We got you some lemonade." Cameron says, handing the two of us foam cups. I smile and take a sip, sighing at the feel of the cold liquid on my throat.

The four of us make idle chitchat for about an hour before deciding to go for a swim. We strip off our outer clothing and put them in our bags before walking down to the water's edge. I let the water lap deliciously over my toes, grinning at the feeling.

"Hey, Chels, do you wanna go for a surf?" Brad asks. Chelsea nods excitedly. They leave to rent a board, leaving Cameron and I standing knee deep in the water.

"Want to go further?" I asked, and he nodded. We waded out to neck deep waters, and then pushed off of the sand and swam out towards the open ocean. I was lucky, because Cameron wasn't really one for pointless conversation, so we swim in a halfway comfortable silence. The kind of silence where it almost feels okay not to say anything, but at the same time feels like you should.

But I don't say anything until I feel something touch my leg. I yelp and kick, accidently sending my foot into Cameron's calf.

"Ow!" He exclaims, looking at me in surprise.

"Sorry! Something touched me." I say quickly, my cheeks turning pink. Cameron smiles and I almost think that it looks kind of cute, but then the thing touches my leg again.

"Okay… Not cool. Maybe we should get out. I'm all for fish and stuff, but we're deep enough out for sharks…" I mumble.

"What are you talking about? I haven't felt anything." Cameron says, frowning. I purse my lips.

"Well I did. And I'm getting out. You can stay if you want, but I am not getting eaten today."

"Okay, okay, don't freak. I'm sure it was just a fish. I mean, come on, what are the chances that a shark is rubbing against you. They don't even like humans… usually." My eyes widen.

"Kidding! We can get out." He says with a grin. We start paddling back towards the sand, and we are almost to waist level water when something touches my leg again. The difference is that this time, the thing isn't just brushing my skin, it is stuck to it. I kick my leg out of the water, and the thing slides off.

"Calm down, Em." Cameron says, looking at me like I am crazy. He puts a hand on my shoulder, and my breathing slows considerably, but then I feel something jerk me back into the water. I land on my butt, causing me to get a mouthful of water.

"Em-" He is cut off by something dragging me back further. I have just enough time to suck in a gasp of air before I can't hold my head above water anymore. I thrash wildly as I feel my feet leave the safety of the sand, but I can't open my eyes. Whatever has been holding me loses its grip, and I try to swim back toward what I think is the surface. I break the water and gasp, trying to look around. I can see Cameron swimming toward me, and a few other people moving towards us. Then I see a hand grab my shoulder, and I am pulled under again. I suck in a breath and start struggling. It isn't until I am under the water that I realize that the hand hadn't exactly been a hand. It was humanoid in structure, but was tinted blue and had webbed connectors between the fingers, and sharp claws that are now digging into my shoulder. I am being pulled under too fast, and I haven't gotten enough oxygen. The pressure of the water as I am pulled deeper into the ocean is deafening, making my ears pop and my head ring. My lungs are burning, and my shoulder is in agony. I try to think calmly, and decide that my best chance of survival is using one final burst of adrenaline to escape and swim away. So, I brace my shoulder for the pain I am sure is coming and jerk hard upward. My mouth opens in a noiseless scream, and my mouth fills with salt water. I close my throat and swim away from whatever had grabbed me, still sightless, and with absolutely no oxygen. It feels like I have been swimming for ages, and I have to know if I am even close, so I open my eyes, ignoring the burning, and see that I am still pretty far from the surface. I kick harder, my lungs scream for oxygen, and I am almost there when I am grabbed again.

That is when I decide that this is it. The day that I die, killed by some unknown creature in the ocean, is today. I stop fighting, trying to use my last bits of energy for conscious thoughts. My vision starts to blur, black haze appears around the edges of everything, and just before I am about to black out for good, a green light fills my vision.

I close my eyes.


	2. Emma Meets the Doctor

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters do not and will not ever belong to me.  
Author's Note: Thanks again for clicking on this fic :) Hope you like this chapter just a little bit better._

With a cough and a sputter of water, I jerk into a sitting position. I start gasping for air, and it takes me a minute to realize that I am surrounded by four people. It takes me another minute to realize that I only know three of them, and that my shoulder hurts like hell. I grab my shoulder, and realize with a growing horror that my hand is sticky with my own blood.

"I wouldn't-" The one that I don't know starts, then stops as I yelp in pain.

"Haven't had a chance to bandage that up yet…" He mumbles. I realize that his shaggy brown hair that hangs loosely over his face is damp, as are his clothes. He is wearing a button up shirt and high-waisted pants, no shoes, and brown socks. I look at his face. He's kind of cute, if you get past the nose, which isn't hard to do, thanks to his eyes.

Clothes.

I am bleeding in my bathing suit in front of a cute guy and I probably look like an idiot.

"Can you hear me?" He asks, and then turns to Chelsea without waiting for a response. "Can she hear me?"

Chelsea ignores him and practically yells in my ear, "Oh my god! I am so glad that you're alive! I thought you were dead! We all thought you were dead! And Cam tried to go after you but he couldn't go down far enough and then he showed up and just dived in there like it was nothing-" She continues to talk as she hugs me, but I block her out and stare at the man. He stares back just as seriously.

When she finally stops talking, I ask, "You saved me?" The man nods, a smug smile on his lips.  
"Thanks." I say, not really sure how you're supposed to act in this sort of situation.

"No problem. Anytime. Well, not anytime, really, but, anytime that I'm free." He trails off as if talking to himself, and I get the feeling that it happens a lot. Chelsea leans back and looks at my shoulder.

"We called an ambulance as soon as he pulled you out." She gestures at the man.

"Does he have a name?" I ask, seemingly unable to tear my gaze from the man.

"The Doctor, at your service." He grins. I frown. The Doctor? That is definitely not a name. That is a title.

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor." I nod.

"Emma."

"Emma who?" He asks after a moment, the smile still on his face.

"Just Emma." I respond, mocking him. His grin grows larger.

"Well then, Just Emma, I'd best be off. Got to take care of those things that grabbed you, right?" He stands and I hurry to stand too, but regret the decision immediately. My shoulder hurts and my head swims and I have to grab something to steady myself. The closest thing is his arm.

"What was it? What do you mean take care of it?" I ask these questions in one breath.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He says simply, looking at me with curious eyes.  
"Try me." I respond, trying to look a little fiercer and a little less close-to-death. The Doctor doesn't say anything.

"At least wait until I've gotten this bandaged up," I gesture at my shoulder. "So I can ask you some questions. I mean, you did save my life." I say quietly. Reluctantly, the Doctor nods.

I realize that my hand is still on his arm, and that he hasn't said a word about it, and jerk my hand back, but not before noticing the look that Chelsea gives me. I am never going to hear the end of this.

"Okay, but I don't like waiting. Waiting is boring. So come with me, I'll bandage your arm, and answer questions on the way." I raise an eyebrow, but nod without really knowing why.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Chelsea grabs my good arm and turns me toward her. "You're just gonna… go with him?" She asks quietly.

"He saved me and I want to ask some questions." I furrow my eyebrows at her.

"Just because he saved you doesn't mean he's safe! And you need to let a professional bandage your arm!"

"If he had wanted me to die, he wouldn't have saved me, Chels. Besides, I could bandage my shoulder just as well as any paramedic."

"Maybe he saved you because he wants to be the one to kill you." I shake my head, and am about to respond when the Doctor speaks

"Are you ready to go?" He looks so innocent. He can't possibly be dangerous, right? I notice that he has picked up a tweed jacket and put on a pair of loafers. I nod, and he turns to walk away. I tell Chelsea to just take my bag home with her, and I'll pick it up when I come to get my car.

"Your bag… Wait!" She mumbles and then yells after me as I jog to catch up to the Doctor's fast paced walk. I groan then look over my shoulder.

"You don't have actual clothes on!" She hisses. My face turns red and I stop.

"Doctor! Wait!" I say. He stops and turns around, looking confused.

"I have to change."

"Why?" He asks. Then his eyes wander their way over my body, and I blush for about the sixteenth time. "Oh."

"Well, that'll take too long." My mouth falls open in shock, but he's already started walking again.

"But- Doctor!" I sigh, shrug my shoulders at Chelsea, and rush to catch up with the strange man.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I ask after we've walked down the boardwalk for a while, passing shops and swimmers. At least there are a lot of people in their bathing suits, so I don't feel so weird. The Doctor is the one who looks out of place, with his too short pants and his bowtie. He looks… overdressed. But at the same time, I can't seem to imagine him in anything but this; it just looks so natural. This thought brings up the question of why he was on the beach in the first place, dressed like this.

"Um, I guess you could call it home." I stop abruptly, suddenly very wary. The Doctor keeps walking, and I consider running away, back to the beach, but don't.

"Home? On the boardwalk?" I ask. The Doctor turns to answer me, finds out that I am no longer next to him, and stops.

"Well, it's where I live, anyway. Not a house. Come on, then!" He says, smiling. I reluctantly walk up so that we're next to each other again, and we start walking. The rest of the walk is quiet, but this is an actually comfortable silence, which freaks me out, since I don't really know the Doctor. Eventually, a very out of place blue police box comes into view. I frown at it, but the Doctor grins and leads us toward it.

"Here she is!" He comes to a stop in front of it, then opens the door and steps inside, leaving the door cracked open behind him. I turn and start walking away, shaking my head.

"Where are you going?" I hear him ask, but I don't even turn to look at him. By this point I am looking for an open store I can hide in.

Suddenly, there is a hand on my good shoulder. I freeze.

"Don't you want to ask me things?" His voice is quiet and kind.

"No, I think I'll be fine." I say, and pull away.

"Did I do something?" He asks, and I turn to look at him.

"Aside from thinking that I was stupid enough to step into a four foot wide police box with you, a man that I don't know while wearing nothing but a bikini? No." He looks confused for a minute, then understanding dawns on him, and he blushes.

"No! No, that's not- No! It's not-" He struggles for words.

"Just trust me. I wouldn't…" His blush increases.

"Thanks for saving me, but please leave me alone." I say harshly, then turn to leave.

"Wait!" He grabs my arm again.

"Please, just trust me." He says, giving me a pleading look.

"I…" I start, feeling bad for how rude I was. I nod, and let him slowly walk me back to the police box. He motions to the door, still looking mildly hurt. I look at him, and slowly push open the door. I step inside and gasp.

"Oh my…." I mumble.

"Amazing, isn't it?" His voice is right next to my ear, sending a hot rush of air onto the sensitive skin, making me jump.

"It's…" The Doctor steps around me and starts nodding happily. "Bigger…. On the inside…." I say, not quite believing what I'm seeing.

I walk to the center, where there is a load of buttons and levers. It looks very confusing.

"Here, sit." The Doctor has appeared with a chair and bandages. I nod slowly and do as I'm told.

"Okay, you have questions, yeah?" He asks as he gingerly lifts my arm and rests my hand on his shoulder so he can wrap my cuts. I nod, watching him start to work.

"What were those things?" I decide to ask this first, in case he decides he doesn't want to answer all of my questions.

"They're called the Maszaavi. They are humanoid water creatures, but their faces much resemble Earth sharks." I look at him sharply.

"Earth sharks? Like… there are… not-Earth-sharks?" I ask. He stops wrapping and looks at me.

"I'll take that as a yes… Okay… So what? They're alien?" The Doctor nods and resumes his task. I am silent for a moment. Then a thought occurs to me.

"Wait… If they're alien… then how do you… I mean… you're human… " I trail off, not knowing how to phrase it. He is silent.

"Right?" I ask. More silence.

"You're an alien, too?" A curt nod.

"Is that alright?" He asks softly, focusing intently on wrapping the gauze. I am silent, taking in everything.

"Yeah." I finally say. The Doctor looks at me for a few seconds longer than is comfortable, then folds over the last part of the gauze.

"Done." He smiles and stands up. I poke at the white fabric, trying to think of another good question.

I look up at him, and say, "You said that this was where you lived, but not your home." His face grows serious, and I know that he wants me to stop talking, so I do.

"Sorry…" I mumble. He doesn't say anything.

"Um… How are you going to stop these… Mavasi?" I say, completely butchering the name. That cute little smile shows up again.

"Maszaavi. And I don't know yet. That's the fun part." His smile has turned into a grin at my expression.

"Fun? Sounds more dangerous than fun." I mutter. He shrugs.

Suddenly, there is a scream from outside. The Doctor and I glance at each other, then run to the door. He steps out first, and I follow, wincing as my shoulder brushes the doorway. People are running towards the parking lots, scrambling into shops, and screaming. We push our way through the throngs of people, towards the edge of the boardwalk. We look towards the beach, and see that there are things walking out of the water. They have the tinted blue bodies of humans, but the heads of sharks.

"Are those what grabbed me?" I ask, my voice shaky. The Doctor nods, looking at the creatures intently.

"I thought you said that they were water creatures." I am now looking at the Doctor.

"Ah, yes, well, they are. Except when they don't want to be." He turns and starts running towards the beach. I follow.

"Why don't they want to be?" The Doctor stops when our feet hit the sand, making me run into his back. I grunt and look around him at the aliens that seemed to collectively turn and walk toward us. The Doctor turns to me, then looks back to them before grabbing my wrists and bringing them up between us.

"Oh! Oh, oh, this is bad, very bad." He is looking at me with wide eyes.

"What? What's very bad?" I ask frantically.

"Um, well, um, the Maszaavi, they, um, they seem to have, um, well-"

"Doctor, spit it out!" I yell, and he flinches.

"Um, they seem to have gotten a taste for you, which means that you aren't safe."

"What? Gotten a taste for me?" The aliens have gotten considerably closer, but they don't seem to be in any hurry.

"Did you think that they were pulling you down for a nice visit?" He asks sarcastically, and I fight the urge to hit him.

"Okay, fine, I get it. What do we do, then?"

"Well, we start by talking to them." I look at him incredulously. He frowns at this.

"Well, I have to offer to help them find somewhere better to live."

"What?!" I practically yell in his face again.

"Okay, let's do this." He grins as he turns around, and I notice that he is standing in front of me protectively, one hand held behind him… I'd almost say he was acting possessively. Not that he possessed me, but hey, I call it like I see it.

"Citizens of the Maszaavi tribe stationed on Earth, listen up because I'm only going to say this once." His voice holds authority, and the shark-people stop. I'd say they looked curious, but they have shark faces, so they don't.

"I am the Doctor, and I request a parley under Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation. I request that you cease all attempts to harm the citizens of this planet, and in return, I will help you find a planet of your own to live on." None of this made sense to me, but I guess the aliens understood, because they looked around at each other. One of the bigger ones stepped forward, and I stepped back.

"We have heard of the Doctor." He says in a slow, gravelly voice. "We do not wish to become his enemies."

"Then agree to the terms." The Doctor says simply. His arm is still holding me back, but I poke my head around to get a better look.

"This is a parley, and we wish to request one more thing." A different shark-person steps up. This one is female.

"Finding your people their own planet is not enough?" The Doctor raises an eyebrow as he asks this.

"Just one thing. One last human. The one that cowers behind you. Surely one human will not be missed." I hear a sort of a growl in the Doctor's throat.

"No. No humans. You will leave them alone and accept my terms, or there will be no agreement." The finality of this statement makes me realize that this man-this alien-might not be so safe after all.

"This is no parley. These are demands." The first shark-person says.

"Be glad that they are so fair." The Doctor says, and I feel like he might be being a little harsh.

There is a silent stare-off between the two males. The Doctor and the shark-man. I put my hand on the Doctor's shoulder and feel how tense he is, even though he looks so calm and easy.

"Do you accept my terms?" He asks. The shark-man stares at the Doctor for a moment, then looks at me. Finally, he nods. The Doctor smiles broadly.

"Good!" He says, making me think that things in his life aren't often this easy.

"How many of you are there?" The Doctor asks happily.

"Just us." The shark-man says.

"Ah, well, that's easy, then. Come with me, I've already got a planet in mind." My eyebrows furrow, and I nudge the Doctor.

"Yes?" He asks as we turn to walk back to the boardwalk. There is not a single person in sight. In fact, I wonder where the police are. I mean, surely someone called them, right? Then I realize that this whole thing only took a few minutes.

"Um, how are you going to get them to another planet?" I ask quietly.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to mention. That police box is my ship." He walks ahead of me, but I hurry to catch up, afraid to be too close to the shark-people.

The Doctor, myself, and a group of seven of the shark-people, walk in silence to what I have just learned is the Doctor's ship. When we reach it, he allows the shark-people to enter first as a gesture of kindness. The Doctor steps in ahead of me, and I think that he might be about to tell me to stay here, but he doesn't. He smiles as I step in after him and shut the door. The shark-people take up most of the room, so I elect to stay by the door, far away from them.

The Doctor walks up to the center of the ship and starts pressing buttons.

"Is everybody ready?" He asks. No one answers.

"Ooookkaayy." He mumbles, dragging out the word, then pulls down a lever.

I am slammed roughly into the railing, and hold the metal in a death-grip. His ship is shaking and whirring and making not very healthy noises, but the Doctor doesn't seem worried, so neither am I. I start to think that this would be a very long ride, but before the thought even finished, the noises stopped, and the Doctor started walking towards the door. He softly grabs my good arm and pulls me with him out of the door. I gasp at the sight that meets me.

The police box is on a small island, surrounded by water and a few other scattered islands. In the distance, I can hear what sounds like a waterfall, and there are bird-like creatures flying overhead. I am too engrossed in all of this to realize that everyone has vacated the ship until the Doctor taps on my back. Quickly, I turn around.

"Are you ready?" He asks.

"Ready? We just got here?" He frowns.

"We've been here for a good twenty minutes. I had to sort out everything with the Maszaavi." I look around and realize that the shark-people are gone.

"But…" The Doctor smiles.

"We don't have to leave yet, if you don't want to."

"We should probably be getting back… I should check in on Chelsea and the others, make sure they're okay." I say reluctantly.

"We can stay here as long as you want. I can take you back to the a few minutes after we left." I raise my eyebrows.

"Did I mention that my ship, the TARDIS, also travels through time?" He grins like he had left it out on purpose. I smile slowly, and then turn back to the water.

"Tell me about this planet." I say.

"Oh! There are also these fish-well, they aren't really fish-that swim around upside down. You'd love them!" The Doctor has been telling me about everything that this planet has to offer for the past hour or so. He seems to love talking about stuff like this. His eyes light up when I look surprised, and he sounds like he doesn't get to talk about all of this very much. That thought makes me sad.

"Oh, we'll have to go to Brioxeter III, as well. They've got trees that you can talk with!" He is saying as we re-enter the TARDIS. I stop just inside the doorway.

"They have funny little creatures there that have seventy three legs, and are smaller than the nail on your pinky. And they have-" He stops when he realizes that I am no longer following him.

"Is something wrong?" He asks, eyes wide.

"You want me to stay with you?" He frowns.

"I thought that you had assumed… I mean… If you don't want to, I'd understand..." He mumbles, looking like a lost child. I chuckle.

"Of course I want to come with you, Doctor!" He grins and rushes over to me, pulling me into a bear hug. After a second, he pulls away and runs into one of the doors onboard the TARDIS.

"I'll be right back!" He yells as he disappears. I roll my eyes and shut the door behind me, then walk to the center of the ship to look at all of the controls.

I turn around and find that the Doctor is standing incredibly close to me. I jump and try to look anywhere but his face, which I am finding cuter with each passing moment.

"Ever heard of personal space, Doctor?" He nods, but doesn't move. He is staring at me intently.

"You smell just like…" He trails off, and I find myself staring at his lips. He leans a little closer, and I let my eyes drift shut at the feel of his lips brushing mine.

"Not possible…" He mutters, and I place my hand on his chest.

I feel more than just one heartbeat, and they seem to be speeding up. The Doctor hesitantly brings his hands to rest on my hips, and fully bring our lips together. I don't hesitate to kiss him back. Our lips have only met for a second before he pulls back. But he has only pulled back to place his hands under my thighs and lift me up so that my face is even with his, and then we are kissing again, urgently this time. And as our lips move against each other furiously, I realize that it doesn't feel like I'm kissing a stranger, it feels like I'm kissing an old lover, someone that I've known for my whole life and more. I tangle my hands in his hair, realizing that I want more, that I need more. And then he backs me into the center of his ship, and he sets my bottom on the control panel, and he is pushing between my legs, trying to get impossibly closer, and I am pulling him in, groaning into his mouth at the feel of his hands lightly running over my clothed body.

And then he jerks back and runs a hand through his hair. The look of regret on his face makes me want to cry. He takes three giant steps back.

"I am so, so sorry. I don't know what…" He is breathless, and I am afraid that if I say anything, my voice will shake, so I just look at him. He won't meet my eyes. After a minute, the Doctor walks silently around me to the controls. I slide down off of the panel, rubbing my arm with my hand. I am too afraid to turn around. The whirr of the ship and the hum of its engine tell me that we are taking off. I still won't look at him.

The noises die out as the ship lands, and I count to 83 seconds before either of us says anything.

"I um… I brought you back to the boardwalk." I turn around quickly.

"What?" My brows come together in confusion.

"I figured you'd want to… leave…" He still won't meet my eyes. I slowly shake my head.

"And miss out on all of the cool space adventures? No way." I say, taking a step toward him. He looks at the door.

"Maybe it'd be… better…" My heart drops. He can't possibly mean that, right? Just because HE kissed ME?! It's not a big deal. People kiss all the time. But that's not exactly true, is it? People do kiss all the time, but not all of them are a human kissing an alien in a space ship that looks like a phone box, and more importantly, not all of the kisses are that… electric.

All of these thoughts cross my head, but all I say is, "If that's what you want." My voice is quiet, not my own. He finally looks at me, and I can see him attempt to smile.

"No, I don't want you to leave. We can just forget about that whole mess. Start fresh." I fight back the tears that threaten to spill over. I don't want to lose my new friend, but it still hurts that it will be so easy for him to move past it.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor!" He says happily, stepping toward me. I involuntarily step back, and his face falls.

"Who did I smell like?" I ask quietly. He frowns.

"What?"

"Before we… You said I smelled like someone but that something wasn't possible. Who?"

"I never said that." I can see the lie in his eyes, but choose to drop it, and step closer to him.

"Hi, I'm Emma Daley." He grins, and I can't help but smile.

"Well then, Emma, where would you like to go?"


	3. Cybermen: Part 1

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who and its characters do not and will not ever belong to me._

_Author's Note: I am super, super sorry that this took so long to type up!_

By my guess, the Doctor and I have been travelling together for about a week. But it's kind of hard to tell when you're travelling through time. He's taken me to amazing places; places that you can't even describe properly. I've seen purple waterfalls, blue trees, planets with three suns, and that's not saying anything about the aliens. I've met Christopher Columbus, walked through America in the 1700s, and met King Louis XVI. I've seen the death of one planet and the birth of another. I've walked on the surface of planets that are millions of light-years away, and met both friendly and unfriendly aliens. But the best part of travelling with the Doctor is how fun it is. It's dangerous as hell, but I've had more fun with the Doctor in the past few days than I have in my entire life. We did just as we planned, and forgot all about the kiss. Well, I at least act like I've moved past it.

The Doctor said that where we're going today is going to be the most dangerous place I've been to. He tried to bring me back to Earth, to keep me safe, but I wouldn't step off the TARDIS. We got into a little argument, which, needless to say, I won. The TARDIS has just landed on the planet Tucarro, and we have just stepped outside.

The ground looks solid, but my shoes sink in with a sticky squelch.

"Ugh." I mutter and jerk my foot up. The Doctor glances at me, but doesn't say anything. He starts walking down the mucky path, and each step sinks into the solid mud, leaving a footprint. I look at him as we walk, and it's easy to see the tension on his face.

"So, what exactly are we here for, Doctor?" I ask, trying to break the silence.

"Got a message." He doesn't elaborate.

"Ah, yes, thank you." I say sarcastically, which earns me the smallest of smiles.

We walk for a good half hour without speaking, until we finally reach hard ground, and I sigh in relief. The Doctor, however, frowns at the lack of muck. He stamps his foot all around the area, then kneels down and runs his finger over the ground. A dusty substance covers his index finger, which he quickly brings to his tongue.

"What the-" The Doctor holds up a hand to stop my exclamation, and smacks his lips together.

"Hmm. Strange." He mutters, so low that I can barely hear it.

"What? What's strange?" I ask, walking toward him.

"Shush, I'm thinking." I raise my eyebrows at him, but stop talking anyway.

Suddenly, he jumps up from his kneeling position and claps his hands together. I wait impatiently for him to fill me in.

"Let me just check…" He says as he runs off in the direction we had been walking. He is back before I can even follow him.

"Ah! Ah, yes! That's brilliant! Well, terrible, but brilliant!" He's grinning like a madman, which I've come to realize that he is. The Doctor runs over and grabs my arms, carefully avoiding my still wounded shoulder, and brings his face close to mine.

"Earth! They're trying to make a carbon copy of Earth, all in this one sector of this planet!" I look at him blankly.

"Don't you get it?" He asks, sounding slightly annoyed.

"No, sorry." I say. He sighs, but the grin remains.

"Okay, we walked through all that mucky stuff, right? That's supposed to be like a marsh. Terrible interpretation, but still. And this hard, dusty…. Um… dirt is like a desert. And ahead of us is a rainforest-like-setting."

"Okay," I drag it out, "I get that, but who exactly wants to make a carbon copy of Earth?" He frowns.

"Oh. I don't know." I snort. The Doctor steps back and does that cute little wiggly finger thing. You know the one I'm talking about, where he brings his hands close to his chest and wiggles his fingers and almost looks a little nervous.

"Well how do we find out?" I ask, walking around the Doctor and heading towards the rainforest part.

"How do we find out? I guess we just walk in and say, 'Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is my friend, Emma, and we'd like to know who you are and why you're making a carbon copy of Earth." I almost start to laugh, but then I see that he is serious.

"You have got to be kidding." He shakes his head. "I thought that this was our most dangerous mission! We can't just walk in there, they'll probably death ray us to… death…" The Doctor chuckles and puts his hand on my good shoulder, stopping me.

"No, they wouldn't. Of course they wouldn't! I'm sure they're very nice people. When did I say that this was going to be dangerous? I never said that. Silly, silly, Emma." I frown and chew the inside of my cheek, but don't say anything. He starts walking toward the rainforest, and I follow.

We walk for another half hour silently, and we pass the rainforest and go into some sort of beach-like area. I shudder at the water that sits to our left. We stop at the end of the sand, where a giant, metal, very square building sits. There are no windows and as far as I can tell, just one door.

"Huh. Must have materialized in the middle of the sector…" The Doctor mumbles, and I realize that he's talking about how there were only four different types of places. He walks toward the door, and I follow, trying to ready myself for something crazy. We stop in front of the door and the Doctor waves his screwdriver around, looking at the door very seriously. I almost laugh. But then the door slides open, and the Doctor freezes, looking intently into the dark building. The only light in the otherwise pitch black air is the light coming from outside. The Doctor gives me a sideways glance, and nods inside.

"Oh, no. I am not going in there first." I exclaim, stepping back. The Doctor makes a face.

"Nothing bad will happen." He mumbles, but steps inside the doorway anyway. I can just barely see his silhouette as he waits for me to follow. Reluctantly, I do, and cringe as I step into the dark room.

"See? Nothing bad-" He is shut off by the door sliding closed. I yelp as something touches my hand.

"Just me! Just me!" I hear the Doctor say, calming me down. "Take my hand. Don't want to get separated." Slowly, I reach around to find his hand, and our fingers intertwine. I have never held a friend's hand like this.

"Come on, then." He says, and begins to walk. His hand pulls me along behind him, our footsteps echoing in the silence.

"How do you know where we're going?" I whisper. It isn't necessary, but I feel like if I talked in my normal voice, it would be deafening.

"I don't." He replies quietly. "I'm just hoping that we don't run into a wall." I smile at this.

Suddenly, there is a loud crack and the Doctor stops walking. I freeze just as bright white lights flicker on, blinding us. I blink a few times, and I see the Doctor shield his eyes with his free hand. After a moment, our eyes adjust and we open them fully and look around. The room is bare and white, and it seems as though no living thing has been in here for a while. The air is musty, making me clear my throat.

I realize that I am still holding the Doctor's hand, and he is still holding mine. I don't want to make things weird by jerking my hand away, so I leave it there, acutely aware of the sweat that is beginning to form on my palm. A few seconds pass before we hear it. The growing clang of footsteps, and it sounds like an army. There is a clang of metal with each step, and as he realizes this, the Doctor's face falls.

"You need to hide somewhere." He is looking in the direction of the noise, and his hand tightens around mine.

"I need to hide? What about you? What's coming?"

"I'll be fine. You need to go back outside, to the TARDIS preferably, and wait for me. You'll be safe there." I start shaking my head before his sentence is even over.

"Doctor, what is coming?" I ask impatiently. He looks at me.

"Cybermen." I look at him blankly. "Human brains in a metal body, put there to erase all the hindrances of emotions." He quickly explains.

"Well I'm staying here." I say, and turn to face the oncoming army.

"Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" He asks, more to himself than me, but doesn't say anything else.

"So what are we going to do?" I ask, and the Doctor purses his lips. I take that as an 'I don't know', and turn back towards the noise. It only takes a minute or two before they start coming around the corner. Metal men, marching in perfect synchronization, in rows and rows and rows. It seems that they will never end, but they do. They stand there, staring straight at us, and none of them do anything. The Doctor's grip on my hand is almost painful.

And then another cyberman walks around from the back and steps up to the front of the formation.

"You are the Doctor. You are expected."

The Doctor squints, then whispers to me, "They're acting strange. Should've tried to kill or upgrade us by now."

"Upgrade us?" I whisper back. The Doctor nods, but says nothing else. The cyberman leader walks toward us, his feet making very metal noises as they hit the ground.

"You will come with us for upgrading."

"Ah! There we are!" The Doctor yells just as the cyberman grabs his arm. The Doctor pushes me away, then pulls out his sonic screwdriver and aims it at the cyberman's hand, which falls away with a spark.

"Alright, then, anyone else like to try?" He asks. The first row of cybermen step forward.

"Ah, yes, well. That's unfortunate. Run!" He yells and grabs my hand again. We run around the cybermen, dodging their grasping hands. The Doctor pulls me around a corner and suddenly stops. I can hear the metal clangs echoing down the hall as the Cybermen slowly follow us.

"Hold on… I was expected?" He asks the air, one eyebrow raised and looking very confused. He looks around at the walls, then jerks me back out in front of the Cybermen.

"You were expecting me? How were you expecting me? I had no plans to come here, so why were you expecting me?" The Cybermen have stopped in front of us.

"We were told by our Cyber Leader." One of them says.

"And who, exactly, is your leader. I want to meet him… Or her, I guess."

"Aw, you missed the perfect chance to say 'Take me to your leader.'! I'm officially mad." I mumble, and the Doctor smiles.

"You have no need to meet our Cyber Leader. You will be upgraded." The metal man says, and the army starts marching toward us again.

"Okay, I guess we'll have to find your Cyber Leader by ourselves." This comes out as a grumble.

Before I can process it, we are running again, past boring walls and boring floors and boring ceilings. This building is really very boring. The Doctor and I run through the building until we reach a dead end.

"What? Who has a dead end in a hallway with no doors?" I ask rhetorically. We haven't run into any more groups of Cybermen, so we will have at least a few minutes to backtrack and go a different way. I start walking back the direction we came, but the Doctor pulls me back.

"That's it! Ah, you're so clever, how did I not see it?!" He grabs both of my hands and leans close to me, a broad smile filling his face.

"Um, thanks?" I mutter, confused. "What exactly am I so clever about?" I add a second later.

"You're right. No one has dead ends in a hallway with no doors." He says, looking at me expectantly. I shake my head at him, signaling that I don't understand.

"There are doors. Just not doors that we can see."

"Oh!" I nod excitedly, then frown. "What good are these doors if we can't see them? I mean, how do you plan to use a door you can't see?" The Doctor drops my hands and steps toward a wall, pulling out his sonic screwdriver as he does. He changes the screwdriver's setting and then wave it around at the wall. He starts walking toward the dead end, but stops when the screwdriver starts making a higher pitched noise.

"Here." He mumbles, then puts the screwdriver away and starts running his hands over the wall.

"There's got to be some sort of switch or something." He says. "Come help me." I step to the wall and skeptically start feeling around.

I stop when I hear it. The clanging. Cybermen. They're getting close.

"Doctor?" I warn, looking nervously toward the hallway entry.

"Yeah?" He asks, still trying to find a switch.

"Listen." I grab his arm to stop him.

"Ah. Best hurry, then." He says with a grin. I look at him incredulously, but he ignores it and motions for me to start helping. I let out a breath and put my hands to the wall again.

As we search for a switch, the clanging gets louder and louder.

"Doctor!" I say frantically.

"We're fine, we're fine." He says, holding his tongue between his teeth in concentration. I pull away from the wall and step back.

Just as the first Cyberman steps around the corner, the Doctor lets out a triumphant laugh and jerks me inside of a room. The door slides shut behind us and we are plunged into darkness for the second time in thirty minutes.

"Hand." I hear the Doctor say, and automatically start searching for him. He grasps my hand tightly, intertwining our fingers again.

We stand for a moment in silence, before a woman's voice speaks up from in front of us.

"Very good, Doctor. You responded to my little cry for help quickly."

_Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I am absolutely terrible at keeping on schedule with these sorts of things. Have to be in the mood and all that. _

_Special shout-out to __**Japanaimefan**__ for being my very first reviewer! Thank you so much! :)_


	4. Cybermen: Part 2

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not and will not ever belong to me._

_Author's Note: I am absolutely terrible at keeping schedule, and that is why this is so late. I wrote and rewrote this three times before splitting it into two chapters for the sake of length. (Both chapters have been posted! Yay!)_

"Very good, Doctor. You responded to my little cry for help quickly."

The Doctor's grip on my hand tightens just as a screen comes to life in front of us. It shows a close-up of a pretty woman with blonde hair.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asks.

"I am Professor Jessica Lawrence."

"Should that name mean something to me?" The Doctor mocks her.

"No, not unless you've done extensive research on the Cyberman Experiment." She says, clearly missing the rhetorical-ness of his question.

"Never heard of it." I can just see the Doctor's face in the light from the screen, and I watch as he furrows his brows.

"Good, then we're working just perfect."

"No… Why haven't I heard of it? I know about all of the important Cybermen related… things…" I look at the woman on the screen.

"What is the Cyberman Experiment?" I ask after clearing my throat. The woman looks at me disinterestedly.

"Who are you?" She sneers at me. I raise an eyebrow.

"Um, Emma. I'm a friend of the Doctor's, obviously." She makes a snorting noise.

"Aren't they all?" She mutters before drawing the Doctor's attention again. While the Doctor tries to get information and the Professor refuses to give him any, I look around at the dark room, trying not to think too hard about what she just said.

"Why did you bring me here?" I hear him ask.

"That doesn't matter, Doctor. Ask the questions that matter." The Doctor groans.

"That seems like a pretty important question to me!" He exclaims.

As my eyes start to adjust to the dark, shapes start to form out of the shadows.

"It's not." She says simply.

"Doctor…" I whisper, still looking around the room.

"Just a minute, Emma." He says.

"You're asking such basic questions, Doctor. You are the stuff of legends, and you're asking questions a child would ask."

"Who are you? Really? Professor? These Cybermen called you their leader, right? So why did you call yourself Professor?"

"Now, you're getting it, Doctor! I'm a Professor and a Cyber Leader. It's rough, being both, but, a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do." The shapes are almost completely visible now. I don't know what they are, but they look strange, almost human.

"Professor of what?" The Doctor asks.

"Professor of history. The history of the human race. And you show up quite a bit in that, don't you Doctor?"

I let out a yelp as I realize that the shapes are one hundred percent human.

"What is it?" The Doctor asks, pulling me close to him.

"People. There are people in this room." I whisper, eyes wide and staring at the one closest to us. The Doctor looks at the darkness until his eyes adjust.

"Oh, no… No, no, no. You haven't…" He turns to the screen.

"I have." I hear her say. The lights come on around us, and I blink twice, then look around the room. All of the people are dead. And you can tell that they're people rather than just really good copies because of their color. Gray.

"Curators are often Professors as well, aren't they?" The Doctor looks around the room sadly.

"All of them were perfect look-a-likes. I found them, brought them here, and added them to my collection. All of human history's best and worst gathered in one room. Isn't it marvelous?"

"Why am I here?" The Doctor has begun to scan the bodies with his sonic.

"Because you're the final exhibition. The hardest to find, but the easiest to bring here." My mouth falls open.

"You are absolutely mental." I say, and she turns to me again, annoyed.

"You'll do fine as a Cyberman, I suppose. It was truly lovely to speak with you, Doctor, but our time is over… Or rather, yours is." Jessica moves to press a button, presumably to turn the screen off, but the Doctor stops her, stalling.

"Wait, wait! Part of it still doesn't make sense." She rolls her eyes as the Doctor rushes back in front of the screen.

"What does it matter? You're going to be dead in five minutes, anyway."

"Dying man's last wish." He says with a smile, and offhandedly gives me his screwdriver. This seems sort of strange, and I'm not at all positive that he knows he did it, but I take the tool and stick it in my back pocket anyway.

"Ugh. Fine. The Cybermen are so that I don't have to do any of the dirty work. They do everything from killing to altering the bodies of my exhibits." I think that by this point, I should be freaking out, trying to save myself, or even acknowledging that there is a very good chance that I will die. But I trust the Doctor. His presence alone is extremely calming.

"Okay… But what about the Earth copy outside?"

"It's to make the customers feel more at home."

"Well it sucked. Didn't feel like home at all. Very alien." I say, sending her an annoyed smile.

"Enough! Time to die, Doctor." She pushes a button and the screen goes blank. Then the door slides open, and a Cyberman stands in the doorway.

"You will be upgraded." It says.

"Okay, Doctor. What's the plan?" I ask as he starts backing us away from the door.

"Plan? Oh, plans aren't any fun… Like to live in the moment." I look at him.

"So in other words, you couldn't think of anything?" He glances at me, but says nothing. The Cybermen have started filing into the room.

"Upgraded." The Doctor stops backing up.

"What?"

"It said we'd be upgraded. She wants you upgraded and me killed, so why didn't it say deleted?"

"You said they were just brains in a metal suit, right?" I ask, watching the Cybermen get closer. The Doctor and I had begun to back up, and had hit a wall.

"Yes, I did! That's brilliant! You don't need a brain for a human 'exhibit'!" He yells excitedly.

"Alright! Take us for upgrading then!" I look at the Doctor with wide eyes.

"Wait, a second! They're still gonna kill our bodies and take our brains!"

"No! Well, that's what they'll try to do, but we'll escape first."

"Do you have a plan, then?!" I ask frantically, pushing myself against the wall. The Doctor turns to me and grabs my hands.

"No. But this is very important, Emma. Do you trust me?" He asks. I hesitate before nodding.

"We'll be fine. I promise. I won't ever let anything happen to you."

I nod, aware of the panic that is finally setting in. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth; in through the nose, out through the mouth. I repeat this over and over in my brain as the Cybermen finally reach us, wrapping their strong metal fingers around our shoulders.

I don't really think that anything happened on the way to… well, wherever they've taken us. I was too busy focusing on breathing. I vaguely remember the Doctor looking very serious as we were pushed through the hallways. All I know for sure is that the Doctor and I are flat against two pieces of metal, strapped to them by our ankles, wrists, and forehead. The thought crosses my head that we must look very silly, and I smile lightly.

"Prepare for upgrading." One of the Cybermen says, making my smile fade.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" I hear the Doctor say. Like I said, we're strapped down by our foreheads, so I can't exactly turn to look at him.

The Cyberman doesn't stop what he's doing.

"Oh! Emma!" The Doctor bursts out, as if suddenly realizing something.

"Sonic!" He whispers. I am confused for a moment before remembering that his screwdriver is in my pocket. I almost let myself get excited. Then I remember that it's in my back pocket, not my front, and my face falls.

"It's in my back pocket." I whisper back. "Can't reach it."

"You've got to try really, really, hard, Emma."

I don't respond, I just start trying to maneuver my hand around so that it will reach my pocket. I lift my butt away from the slab of metal and try that way. My wrist is screaming in protest at the way that I am bending it, but I can just feel the tip of the screwdriver, so I keep trying. The Cyberman has finished preparing and is walking toward a control panel. I double my efforts, and after a great deal of pain, I pull the sonic out and grip it tight.

"Got it!" I say a little louder than necessary, causing the metal man to turn around.

"You are a threat to the Cybermen. You will be deleted!" It says, and starts to raise its arm toward me.

"Doctor, what do I do?!"

"Aim it and push the button!" I do as he says and the Cyberman's arm freezes with a spark. There are four more Cybermen in the room with us, and they all turn to me.

"Unlock your straps!" He says, and I do that, rubbing my wrist lightly. The Cybermen are walking toward me now, and I jump off of the slab and rush to the Doctor, quickly unlocking his as well. He hops out and grins before grabbing me around the waist and spinning me around.

"Doctor! Cybermen!" I say and thrust the sonic into his hand.

"Oh." He mutters and turns to face them, aiming the sonic at them.

"Don't come any closer!" He orders, but the Cybermen continue marching toward us.

"Well, it was worth a shot, anyway." The Doctor mumbles before shoving the tool in his jacket and grabbing my hand.

"Okay, here's the plan. Run." I look at him.

"What?!"

"Ready? Now!" I am jerked after him as he dashes around the Cybermen.

"Left, right, right, left, left, right…" He mumbles directions to himself as we run back through the hallway.

"Oh, what comes after right?" He jerks to a stop at a split hall.

"Doctor? How do you remember how to get outside?" I ask.

"Outside? Oh, we're not going outside! We have to stop the Professor." I start to say something, but he cuts me off. "Well, it's a fifty/fifty shot, right?" Before pulling me down the left hallway.

We run for a very short amount of time before we reach the hallway's dead end. I put my hands on my knees, thoroughly out of breath.

"Okay, so I don't think this is where we were, but I think this is where we need to be." He says.

"How can you tell? Everything looks the same!" I exclaim as I watch him scan the walls.

He finds a door like in the last dead end, and looks at me questioningly. I nod, telling him that I'm ready, and he places his hand where he did to open the last door. The wall slides smoothly to the side and the Doctor grabs my hand again, then pulls me into the dark room. This time, however, he wants to be in charge, and aims his sonic at the ceiling. The lights come on, and we are met by a strange sight. There is a metal desk, and behind it sits the Professor. She looks perfectly fine, minus the gray skin.

_Author's Note #2: Thanks so much to everyone who has responded well to this fic, whether you favorited, reviewed, or just read it and thought, "Hey, this is kinda sorta good!" I had no idea that I would get any responses to this so quickly!_

_Special thanks to Lizzybug2000 for the constructive feedback. I hope these chapters continue to spark your interest!_


	5. Cybermen: Part 3

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not and will not ever belong to me._

_Author's Note: Final part of the Cybermen arc! Once again, so sorry to keep you amazing people waiting, and thanks for all of the positive feedback!_

**Previously on the Beauty of the Doctor: The lights come on, and we are met by a strange sight. There is a metal desk, and behind it sits the Professor. She looks perfectly fine, minus the gray skin.**

"What?!" The Doctor asks no one. The screen that hangs from the ceiling comes to life, and the Professor, healthy and alive as before, stares at us. The Doctor looks at the screen, then to the dead body behind the desk.

"This is my favorite exhibit, Doctor." She says.

"How…?" I mumble.

"How am I talking to you when you can see my body there?" She finishes for me, and I nod. The Doctor is still looking between the body and the screen.

"You copied your consciousness into the building's main wiring system." He says, stopping her from answering her own question.

"Why? Why are you doing any of this?" He asks her as his grip on my hand tightens.

"To preserve the most important events in human history. One of those will be the creation of this museum. So I preserved myself. You are the only thing standing between myself and becoming a household name." She says, and the Doctor exhales sharply.

"You'll become a household name, alright, but you won't be spoken of as a history preserving hero; you'll be spoken of as the nutter who killed over one hundred innocent men and women in an attempt to make yourself famous." Professor Lawrence scoffs at this.

"No, Doctor, people will praise me for my work, just as they praise William Shakespeare or Isaac Newton! I will be a legend in my field; a historian who took the necessary steps to achieve the goal of preservation." The Doctor is already shaking his head before she's done.

"No. No! Jessica, you can't do this!" The Doctor lets my hand fall and grabs the screen as if it were her face.

"Please, listen to me, Jessica. I know what I'm talking about, and I can't let you do this. Please. Stop this. Let me help you. Whatever killed you meant for you to stay dead, and I'm sorry. But please, don't make me stop you." There is a flicker of guilt in the woman's eyes before she leans back from the screen and shakes her head.

"No. This is my life's greatest work. I won't let you destroy it." The Doctor steps away and points his screwdriver at the screen.

"I'm sorry." He says and forces the screen off. He stares at the blank screen without saying anything for a good minute and a half.

"Is that it? Is she… dead?" I ask quietly.

"Shush. Thinking." I smack his arm and he jerks, then rubs the spot.

"What? I was!" I roll my eyes.

"No need to be rude."

"No, she's not dead. Well, she is, but she isn't." I nod at this, trying to understand his wording.

"Okay, I think we missed a dead end. That's probably where the main electrical room is. That'll be where we shut both her and the Cybermen down." He says, and opens the door again.

We peek out of the door and look around the hall. Surprisingly, there's absolutely nothing. No sign that anything was here, either. The Doctor steps out first and starts walking back the way we came.

"Okay, I've got good news, and bad news." He says.

"Bad news first."

"Alright, we're going to have to pass where the Cybermen took us before." He does the finger wiggly thing again.

"Great." I mumble sarcastically. "And the good news?"

"I've just remembered that I've got a spare fez aboard the TARDIS." I narrow my eyes at him.

"And how exactly does that help us here?"

"Oh, it doesn't. You didn't say you wanted good news about here. Well, I've got more bad news then: No good news." I groan, but follow the Doctor when he starts walking again.

We turn so many corners that I can officially be called lost, and walk for what feels like miles, until the Doctor suddenly stops us at the end of a hallway.

"The Cybermen should be just around this corner. It's strange that we haven't run into them already. I expected Jessica to activate them immediately after I ended our call."

Immediately after he says this, the sound of metal clanging reaches our ears.

"Ah. That would be the Cybermen." I roll my eyes.

The Doctor cautiously steps around the corner and looks down the dead end hall. One of those hidden doors sits open. He glances at me, and then pulls me after him as he tip toes toward the door. After looking inside of the room, he stands up straight and starts looking around the hall, confusion clearly showing on his face.

"Doctor, I think they're getting closer." I say, and the man nods, then steps inside. I move to follow him, but he pushes me back lightly.

"Keep watch while I deactivate the main system computer. It's… oh I hate when people say this, but it's quiet… too quiet." I nod reluctantly and turn to face the hallway's entrance.

I've been standing here for five minutes or so, listening to the clanging noise grow in volume. There is, however, still no sign of the metal men. Occasionally, the Doctor's sonic whirring and mutterings to himself can be heard, though I can't ever match them with real words. It takes almost fifteen minutes before the first Cyberman rounds the corner. I gulp and lean back through the door.

"Doctor, they're here." He looks up at me, then turns back to his work.

"Okay, Cyberman… you can stop anytime you want." I say loudly, doubting very highly that this will work. It doesn't.

"New orders have been received. The Doctor and his Companion will be deleted." The Cyberman states as he gets closer, forcing me to walk backwards into the room.

I glance at the Doctor out of the corner of my eye as I back towards the wall. He is frantically waving his sonic at an electrical box with one hand and pulling levers and pressing buttons with the other. My breathing quickens as my back hits the wall, and I watch a few of the Cybermen break off from the group and head for the Doctor.

"Doctor!" I yelp. The Doctor whirls around and aims his sonic at the closest Cyberman to him, then to the closest one to me. The slump over, sparks flying. The next Cyberman is still half of the room's length away, but it is closing the distance quickly.

"Sorry, I can't fight them off of both of us and shut the system down at the same time, Emma! Just keep away as long as you can!" I nod even though he isn't looking at me and scramble to the farthest corner, which probably isn't my smartest idea, but it gives me at least one more minute of life.

"You won't win, Doctor." I hear Jessica say. A screen has lowered from the ceiling, facing the Doctor, who is switching between deactivating the Cybermen that march toward him and deactivating the system. The Doctor doesn't respond to her, but she keeps on talking to him.

"You will be the best exhibit in this museum, aside from mine, of course." The Cybermen have nearly closed the distance between us, and I watch their arms stretch toward me with growing horror.

"Lawrence will be a household name."

"Just… one more… second…" The Doctor says, completely oblivious to the Cybermen closing in on him.

"I will be the most famous historian ever to have lived!" Jessica's voice is growing louder.

"DOCTOR!" I scream as I try to push myself as close to the wall and as far away from the metal men as possible.

"Almost… got it…" I hear him say as I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to focus on my breathing.

"My beautiful Cybermen will kill you both, and then-" The low whine of a television shutting off is heard, followed by the Doctor's triumphant shout.

Warily, I open my eyes, and immediately go cross eyed as I stare at the metal hand that is mere centimeters away from my face. I let out a whoosh of air and side-step away from the thing.

"I did it! Just like I said I would!" The Doctor exclaims happily as he weaves in and out of the lifeless metal shells to reach me and grab my hands.

"Yeah…" I mumble, still shaking from how close to death I was. His grin fades.

"Are you alright?" He asks, concerned.

"Hah. Am I alright, he asks." I say to the air. "Am I alright? Oh, yeah, I am just peachy keen. I only almost died. No biggie. Normal, everyday stuff, yeah?"

The Doctor squeezes my hands with his own, then pulls me through the throngs of Cybermen and out into the hallway.

"Um… Sorry… It isn't usually this… close…" The Doctor mumbles abashedly as he steps inside of the Tardis. I look at him incredulously.

"Yeah, I think it is. Everything with you is like almost dying. Anyone could tell that." This comes out harsher than expected, and the Doctor looks away guiltily, proving me right. I soften at the look on his face.

"But that's okay. That's kind of what I signed up for, yeah? I don't guess I expected any less, stepping onto a spaceship with an absolutely mad alien-man." I step closer to him, trying to apologize without apologizing. He smiles lightly and turns back toward me.

"Does that mean you want to go somewhere else?"

"Of course." I say excitedly, and his smile turns into a full blown, mischievous grin as he pulls the lever down, sending us spiraling through time and space.

_Author's Note #2: I really appreciate all reviews, and would really love to hear your ideas and constructive criticism! Notice that I said CONSTRUCTIVE. Please don't review just to say that it sucks. Tell me why you think it sucks! L: _


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